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Ryanair doubles Q1 profit but warns of second-half fare pressure

Budget airline Ryanair more than doubled its first quarter profit and said it was raising annual profit expectations, but warned of second-half pressure on fares from rival price-cutting.

Ryanair said first quarter net profit rose 152% to €197m versus the same time a year ago due partly to a strong Easter, but cautioned that it compared with no holiday in the same period last time.

Passenger traffic rose to 24.3m as load factors - how full its aircraft were - increased four percentage points to 86%.

Average fares rose by 9% while total revenues lifted 11% to €1.496bn. Unit costs fell by 2%, but rose 1% excluding fuel.

Ancillary Revenues rose 4% in line with traffic growth, as the rising uptake of allocated seating offset cuts in airport and baggage fees.

Ryanair said it was on track for a strong first half and passenger traffic growth of 3%.

But it warned of softer pricing in the second half as rivals slashed fares and as the carrier increases capacity this winter by 8% to attract business passengers.

The group expects full year traffic to increase by 5% to 86m and annual post-tax profit to rise to between €620m to €650m.

"However this guidance, which is about a 21% rise over last year's net profit, is heavily, reliant upon the final outturn for second half yields over which we currently have zero visibility," it added.

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